The ECHR rejected a Luhansk prisoner's claim against Ukraine
The European Court of Human Rights has issued its first decision on a complaint against Ukraine related to the loss of government control over part of the territory of the Lugansk region.
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This is stated in the decision published on the ECHR website, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The complaint was filed by prisoner Alexander Khlebik, who was convicted in April 2013 by one of the courts in the Lugansk region on charges of several crimes, including banditry and armed robbery, and received a sentence of 8 years and 9 months in prison. He is serving his sentence in a prison in the city of Starobelsk, Lugansk region.
After his conviction, Khlebik filed an appeal to the Court of Appeal, which is located in Lugansk. However, since Ukraine lost control of the city in 2014, a decision on his appeal has yet to be made. In fact, consideration of the appeal became impossible, because the case materials remained in Lugansk.
In the Strasbourg lawsuit against Ukraine, Khlebik argued that the state violated his right to fair justice within a reasonable time period.
It is noted that the judges of the European Court of Human Rights unanimously recognized that Ukraine is not responsible for the consequences of the loss of control over the territory of the Lugansk region. Taking into account Kiev’s arguments that Ukraine made every effort to obtain the case materials, provided the plaintiff with the opportunity to meet with the Ombudsman, as well as arguments that it is not possible to conduct a new investigation into the charges against Khlebik without access to the case materials, the ECHR decided that Ukraine has not violated the European Convention on Human Rights.
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